INAUGURAL ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT THE 



ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT 



KNOX COLLEGE, 



aiLLESBLIJRa, ILLINOIS, 



JUNE 24, A. D. 185: 



BY REY. H. CURTIS, D. D. 



PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE, 



Um^ CHICAGO : 

DAILY PRESS AND TRIBUXE BOOK AND JOB PRINTING HOUSE, NO. 43 CLARK STREET. 

1858. 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT THE 



ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT 



KNOX COLLEGE, 



ai^LESBLTRa, ILLINOIS, 



JUNE 24, A. D. 1858, 



BY RET. H. CUETIS, D. D., 

PRESIDENT 0|',^« -COLLEGE. 






^ CHICAGO : 

DAILY PRESS AND TRIBUNE BOOK AND JOB PRINTING HOUSE, NO. 43 CLARK STREET. 

1858. 



INAUGUKAL ADDRESS.- 



THE COLLEGE ITS MISSION. 



[The following address was hastily written, and is now printed as delivered, with all its imperfec- 
tions, except two or three slight verbal corrections, lest any modification might awaken dis- 
cussion as to what was actually uttered on the occasion.] 

WiiEif a man is called to occupy an important post, and great 
interests are to be intrusted to him, it is customary — it is expected 
of liim — that he shall express publicly his views of the work to 
which he is called ; and indicate somewhat the principles by which 
he will be guided ; the objects he will aim to accomplish ; and the 
general course of action he will deem it his duty to pursue. There 
is an obvious fitness and propriety in this custom. In assuming 
an important administrative office, it is well that a man should 
foreshadoAV in some measure the character and spirit of his admin- 
istration. The promises thus given in advance will show the 
•community what to expect; will be a chart to guide his after 
course, if he be honest ; and if he seem at any time inclined to 
swerve, these remembered promises may be flung in the face of 
the unfaithful official, to shame him back to consistency. 

The very short time (a little over two weeks) which has elapsed 
since my acceptance of the post to which I have been invited by 
the Board of Trust of Knox College, and my continued duties 
as a Pastor meantime, may be some apology for me, if the thoughts 
suggested on this occasion should be deemed common place, and 
if the form and arrangement of them be somewhat like other 
extemporaneous productions, unstudied and ill digested. 

If any one truth may be safely assumed as generally admitted 
by all classes, it is the importance, nay, the absolute necessity of 
popular education. For, to their praise be it spoken, many Avho 
have enjoyed no advantages of education themselves, feeling 
deeply their deficiencies, are among the most zealous in seeking to 



ITSTAITGUEAL ADDEESS. 



secure such advantages for their children. The popular mind in 
this country is essentially right on this subject. Our political 
institutions assume the intelligence of the people. And the 
national and state governments have made liberal provision to 
secure this result. Our religion favors, nay, almost requires it. 
And public sentiment demands it. In laboring to promote educa- 
tion — the education of the people — no one need fear that he will 
lose the favor of any body, unless it be that of a self-convicted 
priesthood, who teach that ignorance is the mother of devotion; or 
of a self-constituted oligarchy, who maintain that laborers must be 
slaves ; or of a few unfortunate gentlemen, who have property to be 
taxed, but no children to be educated. A few (not all) of this class 
are disposed to say, " Let every man take care of his own;" and 
their own are acres and dollars only, not minds and hearts. Others 
there are of this class, of larger heart and purer mold ; men who 
have become, in the truest sense, j)ublic benefactors, by endowing 
literary institutions, or otherwise fostering education, improving 
its character, and extending more widely its blessings. To such, 
all thanks. The ages to come will cherish their memory, and they 
shall not lose their reward. 

In carrying forward the^work of education, Institutions of 
various grades and of varied character are found necessary ; each 
having its appropriate work to do, each filling its place in one 
great harmonious system. At the base of this, great system of 
intellectual culture, lies the Common School ; common in this, that 
it is designed for every child of man. At least, this is our beauti- 
ful theory, that no child, of parents however poor, of birth however 
exotic, of race however despised or degraded, shall grow up among 
us without the privilege of instruction in the first rudiments of 
literary and scientific knowledge. This foiindation being laid, our 
youth can, if they choose, avail themselves of the further aid of 
the High School or Academy, or can read and study privately, so 
as to perfect themselves in those studies which will fit them for the 
common practical duties of life. This comes as near as possible, 
in a free country, to universal education. But there is a higher 
range of intellectual life. The Christian ministry, the legal and 
medical professions, the business of instruction in all the higher 
branches of learning, and the various departments of literary and 
scientific labor, these all demand a wider range of investigation, 
and a higher culture. To all these professions the College holds 
somewhat the same relation that the Common School does to the 



INAUGUEAL ADDKESS. 5 

ordinary business of life. It lays a dommon basis for tliem all. 
It is occupied mainly in doing foundation work. It imparts much 
useful knowledge directly, and it prepares the way and affords the 
means for other acquisitions in after life. But its chief object is 
discipline and training. It seeks to form in young men habits of 
study, and to teach the difficult art of application. It inculcates 
an accurate knowledge of language, and educates the mind to a 
nicer discrimination of thought. It aims to strengthen the reason- 
ing powers, teaching a man how to reason correctly, and training 
him to perceive the logical relation and sequence of thoughts and 
ideas. Association with others *in study leads also to constant 
comparison of thought, and expression, and opinion, among those 
thus associated, teaching them to estimate their own powers 
aright; accustoming them to friendly conflict of mind with mind 
in debate, without irritation ; thus quickening and sharpening the 
intellectual powers, and training young men for the labors and 
conflicts of subsequent life. It should also be an important object 
in this stage of education, to cultivate the moral powers. The 
conscience needs to be enlightened; the social affections to be 
guided and strengthened ; and the religious sensibilities to be 
fostered and developed. College intercourse and friendships, too, 
constitute no unimportant part of education ; and these should be 
made auxiliary to the development of the whole man, refining and 
elevating his character, improving his manners, and molding his 
soul aright. To accomplish such a work as this is the appropriate 
mission of the College ; to lay a broad, and firm, and well com- 
pacted foundation for a liberal education, to be built up and per- 
fected afterward ; and along with this, to aid in developing a 
symmetrical character, thus fitting men for an honorable, virtuous, 
and useful life. 

The relation of Colleges to the State is not distinctly marked, 
and cannot be easily defined. Common Schools are so nearly 
universal in their reach, that no serious objection has been found 
to lie against national and state appropriations for their suj^port. 
But institutions of higher range, embracing as they do fewer 
pupils, and interesting directly a smaller portion of voters and tax 
payers, have been less frequently and freely aided. An unreason- 
able prejudice has existed in many minds against such institutions, 
as aristocratic in their character, and designed for particular 
classes of society. It has been supposed that their advantages 
for mental culture inure to the benefit of the few only. It would 



6 TNAIIGUEAL ADDEESS. 

not be difficult to sliow, from the catalogues of different institu- 
tions, that every class of men in society have been represented 
in our American colleges ; that they are preeminently democratic 
institutions, bringing the best education in the land within the 
reach of the poorest boy, if he have the energy, and talent, and 
perseverance to avail himself of their advantages. The son of the 
small farmer, of the humble mechanic, or of the poor widow, may 
sit in college halls side by side with the sons of our great men, 
and our rich men; aye, and may distance them all in the race for 
honor, and position, and fame. Nay, more, it were not difficult to 
show that the Academy and the* College are essential to the suc- 
cess, if not to the existence, of the Common School, just as cities 
and small towns mutually depend upon and in turn sustain or 
minister to each other. This mutual relation of dependence 
upon and advantage to each other, in the case of educa- 
tional institutions is not generally appreciated, and hence poli- 
ticians have seldom dared to be liberal to the academies and 
colleges of the land. Another cause of embarrassment, in the 
relation of the College to the State, arises from the difficulty of 
determining the amount and kind of religious instruction to be 
imparted in them. All men, except a very few of the blankest 
kind of infidels, agree that some religious influence should be 
exerted, and some religious truth inculcated upon the minds of 
youth at every stage of their education. But who shall deter- 
mine the quantity and quality of that instruction ? We have no 
established religion. We have at Washington no Secretary or 
Minister of Worship. The Christian religion is the faith of the 
nation. But under that general name there are many separate and 
distinct denominations. In the Common School, where, from the 
age of the pupils, the religious instruction must be limited to the 
simplest elements of divine truth ; where the daily reading of a 
few verses of Holy Scripture, and a short prayer, offered by the 
teacher, or by the school in unison, constitute the entire religious 
exercises of the school, there is little room or occasion for difficulty. 
Bu-t in the higher class of institutions, where maturer minds are 
congregated, and a higher and broader range of topics would 
naturally be brought under consideration, it has been found diffi- 
cult so to regulate the matter of religious instruction and religious 
influence, as to satisfy the community. The effort has been to 
strive to equalize the matter between the denominations, by 
having a little of all and not much of either ; and this has pleased 



IlSrAUGURAL ADDEESS. 



nobody. Hence state institutions in this country have scarcely 
ever flourished, and been popular with the people. Their admin- 
istration has been subject to the vacillations and caprices of political 
parties, and their moral and religious character has been seldom 
satisfactory. The simplest and least exceptionable mode of fostering 
education in its higher departments, by the state, would seem to be 
a provision for free scholarships in any well-regulated institutions, 
which parents or pupils might choose; these scholarships to be 
awarded to the most deserving pupils in the primary and academic 
institutions of the state, thus helping the colleges by aiding worthy 
students ; and leaving the several institutions to compete for the 
largest share of this patronage, by making themselves the most 
deserving. 

I have spoken thus far of Colleges abstractly considered. It 
cannot be deemed out of place, on this occasion, considering the 
circumstances in which we are placed, if I allude more particularly 
to the origin and special mission of this College. On the 6th of 
June, 1835, an association was formed at Rome, Oneida Co.,K Y., 
according to a plan previously drawn up by Rev. Geo. W. Gale, 
for the express purpose of building up a group of literary institu- 
tions at the West. The subscribers to the plan were most of them 
pledged to remove with their families, so soon as a suitable location 
could be found, and the lands purchased as specified in the plan. 
A committee was sent out to explore the country. On their return, 
a meeting of the society was held at Whitesboro', N. Y. ; and after 
some time had been spent in prayer and other religious exercises, 
a committee was appointed with power definitely to piu-chase the 
lands and locate the institutions. This was done in October, 1835. 
Ten thousand three hundred and thirty-seven acres of prairie land, 
embracing the groimd on which we now stand, were purchased at 
government price. Some improved farms and timber lands in the 
vicinity were added, for the convenience of the colonists, and for 
immediate use. This was the origm of the settlement of this 
town, and of the foundation of these affiliated institutions. The 
lands were laid out according to the original plan, and enough was 
sold, at advanced prices, to the original members of the society 
and to others, to pay the expenses of the enterprise hitherto ; 
leaving a few thousand dollars, with which the Board might com- 
ipence their educational work. The College was .named "Prairie 
College," and the town received the name it now bears. A Board 
of Trustees was elected, to whom was committed the funds, and 



UTATJGirEAL ADDEESS. 



the entire charge of the enterprise. In the fall of 1836, a sufficient 
number of the Board of Trust had arrived on the ground to enable 
them to transact business. 

A charter was obtained from the Legislature of Illinois, changing 
the name of the Institution to Knox College ; lands were set apart 
for a Theological Seminary, for a Cemetery, and for a Presbyterian 
Church. This was done by the old Board of Trustees elected by 
the Association at Whitesboro'. The new Board of Trust created 
by the charter, composed in part of members of the old Board, 
met August 9th, 1837, at Knoxville, accepted the trust committed 
to them, received the property and funds from the old Board, 
legalized all their transactions, and pledged themselves to carry 
out, as fully as their means would permit, the purposes and designs 
of the original association, as expressed in the plan adopted in 
New York, two years before. The enterprise was now fairly 
under way. It had, at this early stage, a distinct and definite 
character, as much so as Harvard, or Yale, or Brown, or William's, 
or Nassau Hall, 

With respect to the subsequent difficulties that have arisen in 
the Board of Trust and in the Faculty, it does not become me to 
speak. There is one who judgeth righteously, to whom all these 
things may be safely referred. We have now to do with the origin 
of the College mainly in this respect, that we may judge of the intent 
of its founders, that we may be the better able to carry that intent 
into practical effect. As I read the story of its origin, and look 
over the action of its first trustees, the following statements seem 
to me obvious and indisputable : 

TM& College vms designed for the laboring people of Illinois. 
It was planted in a rural district, far from any of the great 
centers of commerce and of wealth, where it must of necessity 
always be surrounded by a population essentially agricultural. In 
its first organization, it was designed to be a manual labor insti- 
tution. This was found to be impracticable, in the further develop- 
ment of the undertaking. But the design to make it such, shows 
the intent of its founders. 

It was a religious institution in its first conception. Religious 
men devised the plan, subscribed the money, led the way in the 
movement, endured the hardships of the first settlement ; and they 
designed that thgse Institutions, whose foundation stones they were 
then laying, amid privation and toil, shoiild be nurseries of sound 
learning, imbued with the spirt of fervent piety, regulated by a 



INAUGIJEAL ADDEESS. 9 

ScriiDtural faith, unfolding itself in earnest, practical godliness. It 
was not designed to be sectarian. And yet it was expected that, 
as a matter of course, the prevailing type of Christian sentiment 
here would be a Calvinistic faith, acting in and through Presby- 
terian organizations. This was the faith of those who originated 
the enterprise. This was the character of their first organization. 
And for many years no other organization was proposed or seri- 
ously considered. And yet it was not a sectarian movement. A 
Christian man must not only believe in Christianity in general, but 
he must believe something in particular. And his faith on those 
points which constitute the distinctive characteristics of particular 
denominations, will define his denominational character. Not to 
have a creed, and a well-defined, distinctive religious character, 
indicates not liberality, as some suppose, but religious indiiFerence 
rather, or a vacillating mind that has no fixed opinions, or a lack 
of honest frankness, as though the man were ashamed or afraid to 
avow what he does believe, and intended by concealment to cheat 
somebody. Any Christian man who is fit to be a public teacher, 
will have firmly-established and well-defined religious sentiments ; 
and it is exceedingly important that in each public institution there 
should be a general harmony of sentiment. This will not beget 
an intense denominationalism. It will prevent it, rather, by 
removing the elements and occasions of jealousy and strife, by 
which sectarianism is nourished. Girard's idea of making his 
institution religious, without being sectai'ian, simply by prohibiting 
clergymen to enter its gates, was both silly and absurd ; as though 
laymen could not be sectarian ; and as though all clergymen were 
so necessarily. The founders of Knox College designed it to be a 
Presbyterian institution ; not Presbyterian as opposed to other 
denominations ; not as a propagandist agency ; but as Beloit is 
Congregational and liberal, just so they expected this to be — a 
coordinate instrumentality, jointly with others, to diflfuse knoAvledge 
and to promote morality and religion in this young but prospectively 
rich and glorious country. It was planned in the most liberal spirit 
of union and cooperation. It was commenced and carried forward 
by Presbyterians, before the lamentable division of 1 83*7 and 1838 ; 
while old and new school men were united in one organization, and 
had a common interest in all the institutions established by both 
parties. It was commenced and carried forward during the palmy 
period of cooperation, when Congregation alists worked harmoni- 
ously with Presbyterians in the work of education and missions, 



10 IIS-AUGIJEAL ADDEESS. 

home and foreign. We wei-e all full of love and union then ; 
" neither said any one that aught of the things which he possessed 
was his own, but they had all things common." It was assumed 
that there was a common faith among us, and that there were 
common interests, which did not need to be specially guarded by 
articles of copartnership, and specifications of proprietorship, and 
of separate rights. These institutions were designed specially for 
Presbyterians and Congregationalists ; but not for them, even, 
exclusively. 

Brown University, and Yale, and Hamilton, and Nassau Hall 
Colleges, are each denominational, yet not exclusive ; have each 
their predominant type of religious sentiment, and are each under 
the leading supervision of some one denomination, and yet are 
not sectarian or propagandist in any such wise that a parent in 
New York would fear to send his son to any one. of them. So 
here at the west we have Shurtleff, and McKendree, and Marengo, 
and Beloit, which have each a decided denominational supervision. 
And yet I think I may assume of them all what I know of one, 
that neither of them is in any odious sense a sectarian college. I 
would rather a thousand fold send a son to such an institution, 
whose character was undisputed and well known, than to a' half 
and half college, where there is a balancing of power, and a con- 
stant strife for preeminence ; and where jealousy, and party spirit, 
and suspicion, and hatred, are the natural products of such an 
unnatural state. If the denominational sjDirit and party feeling 
among old and new school Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, 
could have been so held in check that no alienations and divisions 
in other matters had occurred, then might our educational institu- 
tions have gone on, as some of them commenced, without ever raising 
the question of denominational influence, and right of ownership 
and control. But in the • inscrutible jDrovidence of God, and 
through the imperfection of men, such a happy union was not per- 
mitted to continue. And we have now to adjust matters as well 
as we can to the present actual condition of things. Three colleges 
have been built up in this State (for Beloit, standing on the line, 
belongs to Illinois as much as to "Wisconsin), by the united coun- 
sels and|unds of New School Presbyterians and Congregationalists. 
Jacksonville is trying to balance itself on the pivot of neutrality. 
But every breath of wind threatens the equipoise. Beloit is 
strongly Congregational. Is it too much to claijn that Knox 
College, with its indubitable parentage, with its well-known early 



INAUGURAL ADDEESS. 11 

history, and its appropriate and significant name, shall be permitted 
to be held and worked mainly by those whom that name befits, and 
who sympathize most nearly with its founders ? 

I have dwelt the more at length on this point, because it has 
been the theme of earnest discussion in this community, and the 
occasion of serious diversity of opinion, and of some asperity of 
feeling. It ought not to be impracticable for high-minded Chris- 
tian men so to arrange our institutions of learning, that the pro- 
prietary rights of all parties in interest shall be equitably regarded; 
the full power of each denomination which has been associated 
brought into exercise and left free to develoj) itself ; and only a 
generous, sanctified rivalry remain from these previous strifes; 
each corporation striving to make its own. nursling the best insti- 
tution in the State. It were a noble ambition to strive to excel in 
this wise ; to see which college can be made to impart the best 
culture ; which can most thoroughly arouse and quicken mind ; 
which can cultivate the best temper, infuse the best spirit, and 
exert on its pupils the best religious influence ; in short, which can 
best educate the whole man, and send forth the ripest scholars, the 
most eloquent speakers, the most correct thinkers ; and trai<n for 
the country and the world the noblest spirits, and the truest men ; 
truest to conscience and to duty — truest to humanity and to God. 
Let there be among our colleges only this holy rivalry, this mutual 
efi'ort to excel, and the blessing of Heaven now, and the benedic- 
tions of ages to come shall rest on them all. 

I may be permitted to say a few words on the subject of college 
government and discii^line. The age of dignified authority sitting 
in state, and exacting humble and unquestioning subjection to 
enthroned Form, has passed away. Neither young men nor old 
are to be governed any longer by venerable robes and the insignia 
of oflice. The time for absolute rule, enforced by fines and igno- 
minious expulsion, has also passed away. Confiscation of goods, 
and the greater excommunication, which are the rack and thumb- 
screw of college discipline, these are not instruments of govern- 
ment exactly adapted to our people and to the present day. And 
yet there must be government and order in college. Our young 
men will not be well educated to go forth as the teachers, and 
leaders, and rulers of the people ; if they have not first learned 
themselves to be subject to law, and to obey rightful authority. 
And it is believed that a mild, parental government, regulated by 
law, and administered with impartiality, uniform and decided, yet 



12 INAUGUEAL ADDEESS. 

gentle and kind ; that such a government will so commend itself to 
the pupils of any institution, that they shall be all on the side of 
order, perceiving that the government is for them and not against 
them. In our civil government, the conviction among the people 
that the laws are for the good of the people, and not for the interest 
of the rulers or of any privileged class ; this conviction is better 
than a numerous police or a standing army, for the promotion of 
order ; for it arrays every good citizen on the side of the govern- 
ment. The same principle may be made available in the govern- 
ment of the college. Let it be made apparent that college laws 
are but the embodiment of the wisdom of experience, drawn out 
in practical I'ules for the good of the scholars only, and hence that 
every disorderly student is a traitor to the best interests of his 
fellow students ; let this, as it may be, be made apparent, and the 
government of the college becomes essentially self-government. 
If any one should be found so lost to reason, to shame, and to a 
sense of justice, as not to be susceptible of being influenced by 
such considerations, it is better that such an one should be sent 
quietly away. There does not seem to be sufficient reason for 
irritating even such an one, or mortifying his friends, by needless 
severity, or an ignominious branding of the criminal. With the 
aid and cooperation of those who will be associated with me in the 
conduct of this College, it will be my aim to administer the govern- 
ment of the Institution in accordance with these principles. 

One other topic demands a moment's consideration. What 
should be the relation of the College to the various controverted 
questions of the day, in things ecclesiastical and moral? My own 
settled convictions are, that the college is not the place, and this 
early stage of education is not the fitting time, in which to incul- 
cate distinctive opinions on doubtful or contested points, either in 
religion or morals. As in intellectual, so in religious and moral 
matters, the college is the place in which to lay foundations. Let 
pupils be trained to a clear apprehension of their personal respon- 
sibility; let a high sense of honor be inculcated, and an uiflexible 
regard for truth and right ; let pure sentiments, and a quick and 
correct moral sense be cultivated ; let the principles and practical 
teachings of the Word of God be made familiar to the mind ; and 
then, superadded to this, let gentlemanly manners and a courteous 
deportment and address be formed ; and withal a habit of inde- 
pendent thought, and bold, frank, manly utterance, so it be also 
kind and conciliatory ; and we may safely leave the rest to time, 



INAUGURAL ADDEESS. 13 

and free individual action. I have great faith in truth, and con- 
science, and Providence, and free thought, and human progress. 
If right principles be inculcated, and pure sentiments, we need not 
fear but right conclusions will be reached by each individual acting 
for himself Teachers in public institutions, like other men, may 
form their own opinions on every question of religion, or reform, 
or politics ; and may ixtter or publish those opinions at their discre- 
tion, in fitting ways and on appropriate occasions. But they should 
not compromise the character of the college by becoming propa- 
gandists of any individual or partizan peculiarities, nor should the 
college chapel, or lectu.re or recitation rooms be misappropriated to 
the inculcation of any such peculiarities. We may mold children 
and youth, before they are ripened into maturity, in almost any 
shape, and stamp on them almost any impression we please. But 
we only make them small bigots, and self-confident dogmatists, by 
such a process. It is better to teach a young man how to reason 
correctly, and then leave him to do the reasoning himself, than to 
reason for him. It is better to discipline his mind to careful inves- 
tigation, and to sound logical deductions, and then, ■v\dth a well- 
instructed conscience, and a warm heart, and an honest attachment 
to wliatever is true and right, to send him forth into the world to 
meet questions as they arise, to face facts, and hear arguments, 
and weigh consequences ; and if he does not decide as we would 
have him, it may become us to review our own judgments before 
we condemn liberty of thought as tending to error — before we 
conclude to put the minds of youth in straight jackets while in 
their forming state, lest they should not think as we do. 

If we would form men of strong minds, self-reliant and well 
balanced, accustomed to reason soundly and to act intelligently ; 
men discreet and wise ; we must not forestal their judgment and 
preoccuj^y their minds with our conclusions. It does not argue 
very much confidence in the correctness of our own views, if we 
are unwilling to have others, and especially our youth, reason and 
judge and decide for themselves. 

I would never introduce, nay, by counsel and moral influence, I 
Avould dissuade others, as far as might be, from introducing any 
partizan or denominational controversy or agitation within the 
college. Let those halls be sacred to virtue and piety, to science 
and literature, to friendship and refined sentiment. In the promo- 
tion of these objects, we can labor together unanimously, despite 
our minor difierences. 



14 INAUaUKAL ADDEESS. 

Gentlemen of tlie Board of Trust, friends and fellow citizens, I 
have detained you quite too long. I feel deeply the responsibility 
of the trust committed to me, and the extreme delicacy of the 
position to which you have called me. I come here a free man, 
pledged to no j^articular policy, embarrassed by no bargain or 
compromise ; free to counsel with the friends of the Institution, 
to consult its interests, and to do whatever duty and right may 
from time to time seem to demand. To conduct such an Institu- 
tion successfully, would in any circumstances be difficult. To 
follow a man of the marked character and signal ability of my 
predecessor, is doubly difficult. And what adds still more to the 
difficulty of the work, is the peculiar and delicate relation which 
the Institution sustains to the churches of this section of the State. 
I can only say that I shall aim at an honest, frank, conciliatory 
course of action, as nearly impartial as poor human nature — my 
poor human nature — will admit. And I rejoice that in this work 
I shall be associated with an able and experienced corps of teachers, 
whom you all know, and resjDCct, and love. In the Faculty of the 
College, with the exception of the Presidency, there will be no 
change. May a brilliant success mark its future course. 

The College— I love it." All my recollections of it are grateful 
ones. It took me by the hand, when I stood on the borders of 
manhood, a poor, trembling youth, with few friends and fewer 
resources, aspiring to be and to do something, but not knowing 
what to do, or how to do it. The College was my friend. It 
kindly led me up the hill ; showed me the world, past and present ; 
pointed out the paths that led into the future, and encouraged me, 
all timid and fearful, with whispers of hope and words of cheer, to 
enter the great arena, and, with what power I had, to do my part 
with others toiling there. I bless the College. It struck the key 
note of my life, whose echoes linger yet. It gave the first great 
impulse to my soul, pointed the way, and bade me onward. The 
American College — it has been an Alma Mater indeed to ten 
thousand struggling, panting souls, that otherwise had pined on in 
obscurity. Twenty years ago, there shot up here, from the praii'ie 
sod, the germ of a town and of a group of literary institutions. 
That germ had been borne from the Empire State of the East to 
this young Empire State of the West. It was planted here in 
hope, and for the ages to come. Besides the "Robin's Nest," and 
its young, hopeful offspring, there was nothing commenced in the 
way of educational Institutions of high order, west of the Illinois- 



ITTAUGUEAL ADDEESS. 15 

river, and northward to parts unknown. There are here to-day 
those who were at the planting, and who helped to water and nurse 
that young germ of promise. Long may these Fathers live to 
rejoice in the work of their hands. We stand here to-day and 
wonder at the growth of twenty years. God grant that such 
counsels may prevail and such blessings follow, that twenty years 
hence, those who gather here may witness a progress as wonderful 
as the past. It is in view, and but a little way off, the tmie when a 
thousand sons of Knox, scattered over this and other States, occu- 
pying the high places of honor and of influence, shall look back with 
affection and pride to this f)lace, and to these College Halls, as to 
the hearth stones and nursery of their mental life, and shall love to 
gather here at these recurring anniversaries. Aye, and more ; 
Knox College has its daughters, too. And these without number, 
in the scattered homes which they bless and adorn, shall remember 
Galesburg ; and they shall love to come back to these familiar 
scenes, to meet familiar faces, to greet beloved friends, and to 
revive the hallowed memories and associations of youth and of 
school life. 

We stand to-day at a new point of departure, in the history of 
this enterprise. A toilsome past has been traversed, marked by 
privation and hopeful endurance, and ill-requited labor. For this 
labor, and endurance, and privation, the reward is laid up on high. 
A brighter future stretches out before us, a future full of hope and 
pi'omise. A pure, free air breathes around. The heavens smile 
benignantly above. The omens are all propitious. May a gracious 
God still watch over and guide our way, dispelling every fear, and 
more than realizing every hope we cherish now. 



ji::^. iK 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




